NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
ALICE SPRINGS (COUNCIL MEETINGS AND PROCEDURES)
BY-LAWS 1987
As in force at 1 July 2008
Table of provisions
Part I Preliminary
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
Part II Meetings of council
Division 1 Business
3 Ordinary meetings ........................................................................... 1
4 Order of business ............................................................................ 1
5 Business paper ................................................................................ 1
6 Notice of business to be given by member ...................................... 2
7 Consideration of matter without notice ............................................ 2
8 Mayoral minute ................................................................................ 2
9 Petitions ........................................................................................... 3
10 Deputation ....................................................................................... 3
Division 2 Motions
11 Motions ............................................................................................ 4
12 Unopposed notices of motion .......................................................... 4
13 Motions not to be withdrawn ............................................................ 4
14 Absence of mover of motion ............................................................ 4
15 Motion to be seconded .................................................................... 5
16 Motion and amendment to motion ................................................... 5
17 Method of taking vote – divisions..................................................... 5
18 Rescinding or altering resolutions.................................................... 6
19 Procedural motions.......................................................................... 6
Division 3 Questions and discussions
20 Questions ........................................................................................ 7
21 Mayor to take precedence ............................................................... 8
22 Mode of addressing members and officers ...................................... 8
23 Limitation in relation to number of speeches ................................... 8
24 Priority of speaking .......................................................................... 9
25 Personal reflections on members or officers.................................... 9
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 ii
Division 4 Order and disorder
26 Question of order ............................................................................. 9
27 Disorder ......................................................................................... 10
28 Motion, etc., to be rejected if out of order ...................................... 11
28A Motion of dissent ........................................................................... 11
Division 5 Attendance and non-attendance
29 Quorum not present ....................................................................... 11
Division 6 Media and public
30 Attendance of public and media at meetings ................................. 12
31 Removal of persons....................................................................... 12
32 Public participation at meeting ....................................................... 12
Part III Committees of council
33 Conduct of meetings...................................................................... 12
34 Disorder in committee .................................................................... 12
35 Reports by committees .................................................................. 13
35A Public participation at meeting of committee ................................. 13
Part IV Miscellaneous
36 Dispensing with requirement of By-laws ........................................ 13
37 Mode of proceeding in cases not provided for ............................... 13
38 Offences ........................................................................................ 13
ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 1 July 2008
ALICE SPRINGS (COUNCIL MEETINGS AND PROCEDURES)
BY-LAWS 1987
By-laws under the Local Government Act 2008
Part I Preliminary
1 Short title
These By-laws may be cited as the Alice Springs (Council Meetings
and Procedures) By-laws 1987.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 1 Business
3 Ordinary meetings
An ordinary meeting shall be held on such day and at such time in
each month as the council from time to time determines by
resolution.
4 Order of business
(1) Subject to these By-laws, the order of business at an ordinary
meeting shall be as the council from time to time determines by
resolution.
(2) Notwithstanding a determination under clause (1), the order of
business at an ordinary meeting may be altered for a particular
meeting where the members at that meeting pass a motion to that
effect.
(3) A motion under clause (2) may be moved without notice.
5 Business paper
(1) The clerk shall, as soon as practicable before each meeting of the
council, or within such time as the council determines by resolution,
prepare or have prepared a business paper.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 1 Business
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 2
(2) Copies of the business paper prepared under clause (1) shall be
made available to the members, and to the public at the council
office and at such other places as the council, by resolution
determines, as soon as practicable before the meeting.
(3) A business paper prepared under clause (1) shall contain:
(a) business arising out of previous meetings of the council;
(b) business which the mayor may wish to have considered at the
meeting without notice;
(c) matters of which notice, in accordance with by-law 6, is given;
(d) matters referred to the council by a standing committee;
(e) officers' reports to the council referred to the meeting by the
clerk; and
(f) such other business as the council from time to time
determines by resolution be contained in the business paper.
6 Notice of business to be given by member
(1) Subject to these By-laws, where a member wishes the council to
consider a matter at a meeting he shall give notice of the matter to
the clerk within such time before the meeting as the council from
time to time determines by resolution.
(2) The Clerk shall, on receipt of a notice under clause (1), include in
the business paper prepared under by-law 5, details of the matter to
which the notice relates.
7 Consideration of matter without notice
Notwithstanding by-law 6, a matter for which notice under that
by-law has not been given may be considered at an ordinary
meeting where a motion is passed by the members at the meeting
permitting it to be considered.
8 Mayoral minute
The mayor may, by a minute signed by the mayor, introduce a
matter for consideration at an ordinary meeting, and the matter
takes precedence over all other matters for consideration at the
meeting.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 1 Business
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 3
9 Petitions
(1) A petition may be presented to a meeting of the council by a
member who, before presenting the petition, shall, as far as
practicable, acquaint himself with the subject matter of the petition.
(2) A member on presenting a petition to a meeting of the council shall:
(a) state the nature and prayer of the petition; and
(b) read the petition.
(3) A petition shall not be presented to a meeting of the council unless
it is worded in respectful language.
(4) Where, under this by-law, a member presents a petition to a
meeting of the council no debate on or in relation to it shall be
allowed and the only motion which may be moved is:
(a) that the petition be received and consideration stand as an
order of the day for the meeting or for a future meeting; or
(b) that the petition be received and referred to a committee or
officer for consideration and a report to the council.
10 Deputation
(1) For the purposes of this by-law, a deputation means a group of
persons consisting of not less than 2 persons.
(2) A deputation wishing to attend and be heard at a meeting of the
council shall, not less than 7 clear days before the meeting, apply in
writing to the clerk.
(3) The clerk, on receiving an application under clause (2), shall notify
the mayor of the application and the mayor shall determine whether
the deputation may be heard and shall notify the clerk accordingly.
(4) Where the clerk is notified by the mayor under clause (3) he shall:
(a) inform the deputation of the determination of the mayor; and
(b) where the mayor has determined to hear the deputation,
arrange a convenient time for the deputation to be heard at a
meeting of the council.
(5) Only one person representing the deputation will ordinarily be heard
at a meeting of the council unless:
(a) the mayor permits other persons in the group comprising the
deputation to be heard; and
Part II Meetings of council
Division 2 Motions
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 4
(b) there is no objection by a member present at the meeting to
other persons in the group being heard.
(6) A person in a deputation at a meeting of the council shall be
temperate in his speech and manner, and shall not use insulting or
offensive language.
(7) Subject to clause (8), a deputation attending at a meeting of the
council in accordance with this by-law shall be given adequate
opportunity and facility to explain the purpose of the deputation.
(8) Notwithstanding clause (7), the mayor may terminate an address by
a person in a deputation at any time where he is satisfied that the
purpose of the deputation has been sufficiently explained to the
members at the meeting.
Division 2 Motions
11 Motions
A motion brought before a meeting of the council in accordance
with the Act or these By-laws shall be received and put to the
meeting by the mayor.
12 Unopposed notices of motion
At a meeting of the council the mayor may call over the notices of
motion in the order in which they appear on the business paper,
and where no objection is taken to a motion being taken as a formal
motion he may, without discussion, put the motion to the vote.
13 Motions not to be withdrawn
Except with the consent of a majority of the members at a meeting
of the council, a motion may not be withdrawn after being placed on
the business paper prepared for that meeting.
14 Absence of mover of motion
Where a member who has given notice of a motion under by-law 6
is absent from the meeting of the council at which the motion is to
be considered, the motion may be:
(a) moved by another member at the meeting; or
(b) deferred to the next ordinary meeting.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 2 Motions
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 5
15 Motion to be seconded
(1) Subject to clause (2), a motion or an amendment to a motion shall
not be debated at a meeting of the council unless or until the motion
or the amendment, as the case may be, is seconded.
(2) Notwithstanding clause (1), a member who moves a motion or an
amendment to a motion may speak in support of that motion or that
amendment, as the case may be, before it is seconded or may
reserve the right to speak to it immediately after it has been
seconded.
(3) A member who seconds a motion or an amendment to a motion
may, if the mover has reserved the right to speak to the motion or
amendment immediately after it has been seconded, reserve the
right to speak in support of his or her seconding immediately after
the mover has finished speaking for the first time.
16 Motion and amendment to motion
At a meeting of the council, a member shall not put more than one
motion or one amendment to the motion at any one time.
17 Method of taking vote – divisions
(1) A motion or amendment to a motion shall be moved and seconded
by members present at the meeting at which the motion or
amendment is considered before the motion or amendment is put to
the vote.
(2) The mayor shall call:
(a) firstly, for votes for the motion or amendment to the motion;
and
(b) secondly, for votes against the motion or amendment to the
motion,
and may do so as often as the mayor considers it necessary to
enable him or her to form and declare an opinion as to whether
there is a majority of affirmative or negative votes.
(3) A member present and voting may request that his or her name be
recorded in the minutes as having voted for or against a motion or
amendment to the motion, and the clerk shall comply with the
request.
(4) A member may, immediately after a vote on a motion or an
amendment to a motion has been taken, call for a division in
respect of the voting.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 2 Motions
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 6
(5) Where a division is called under clause (4), the members who voted
in the affirmative when the vote was taken shall stand in their
places and the clerk shall record their names in the minutes of the
meeting.
(6) Where a division is called under clause (4), it shall not operate to
vary the result of a vote taken by a show of hands.
18 Rescinding or altering resolutions
(1) A resolution of the council passed at a meeting may not be altered
or rescinded unless a notice of motion to alter or rescind the
resolution is given in accordance with this by-law or the alteration or
recission is on the recommendation of a standing committee of the
council.
(2) A notice of motion referred to in clause (1) shall:
(a) be in writing and signed by the member proposing the motion;
(b) have the name of the seconder of the motion endorsed on it;
and
(c) be given to the clerk not less than 7 days before the meeting
of the council at which the motion is to be put.
(3) Where at a meeting of the council a notice of motion to rescind a
resolution of the council is given in respect of a resolution passed at
the meeting, the resolution shall not be carried into effect until after
the motion is put and lost.
(4) Where a motion, of which notice under clause (1) is given, is lost, a
motion to the same or like effect may not be moved until after the
expiration of 3 months after the date on which the first-mentioned
motion was lost.
(5) This by-law does not apply to a motion referred to in by-law 19.
19 Procedural motions
(1) Subject to this by-law, a member at a meeting of the council may,
during the debate of a matter at the meeting, move, as a procedural
motion, that:
(a) the question be put;
(b) the debate be adjourned;
(c) the meeting proceed to the next item of business;
Part II Meetings of council
Division 3 Questions and discussions
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 7
(d) the meeting stands adjourned;
(e) the meeting be closed; or
(f) the question lie on the table.
(2) A procedural motion may be moved under clause (1) at the
conclusion of a speaker's time, and the mayor shall, on the motion
being moved, immediately put the motion without permitting debate
on, or the need for a seconder of, the motion.
(3) Where a procedural motion moved under clause (1) is lost, the
member who moved the motion may not, until after the expiration of
30 minutes after that motion was put, move a similar motion.
(4) Where a procedural motion moved under clause (1), that the
meeting stands adjourned, is lost, the business of the meeting shall
continue and the same procedural motion may not be moved until
after the expiration of 30 minutes after that motion was put.
(5) The procedural motion, that the question be put, may be moved
under clause (1), where:
(a) no other member at the meeting wishes to speak to the motion
before the meeting or any amendment to it; or
(b) not less than 2 members at the meeting have spoken for and
not less than 2 members at the meeting have spoken against
the motion before the meeting or any amendment to it and the
procedural motion is moved by a member who has not spoken
in the debate of the motion or any amendment to it.
(6) Where a motion put under clause (5) is:
(a) carried, the mayor shall immediately put the question to the
motion or the amendment to it, as the case may be; or
(b) lost, debate on the motion or the amendment to it, as the case
may be, shall continue.
Division 3 Questions and discussions
20 Questions
(1) Subject to this by-law, a member may at a meeting of the council
ask a question for reply by another member or an officer.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 3 Questions and discussions
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 8
(2) Such notice of a question under clause (1), as the mayor
determines, shall be given to the member or officer to whom it is
directed to permit consideration of a reply and, if necessary,
reference to other persons or documents.
(3) A question under clause (1) shall be asked categorically and
without argument and no discussion shall be permitted at the
meeting of the council in relation to a reply or a refusal to reply to
the question.
21 Mayor to take precedence
The mayor may, at any time during the debate of a matter at a
meeting of the council, indicate his intention to speak and, on so
doing, a member speaking or proposing to speak to the debate
shall cease speaking and remain silent, or refrain from speaking, as
the case may be, until the mayor has been heard.
22 Mode of addressing members and officers
A member shall, at all times during a meeting of the council,
address and refer to another member or an officer by his official title
or designation.
23 Limitation in relation to number of speeches
(1) Subject to these By-laws, a member who moves a motion may:
(a) speak to the motion;
(b) speak to a proposed amendment to the motion;
(c) speak in reply to an amendment to the motion;
(d) reply to a question asked, or provide an explanation, relative
to the motion; and
(e) speak in reply to the substantive motion, as amended.
(1A) After the member has replied to a substantive motion, as amended,
except to ask questions seeking clarification of the content or
wording of the substantive motion, a member may not speak to the
motion or amendment.
(1B) Subject to these By-laws, a member who moves an amendment to
a motion may:
(a) speak to the amendment;
(b) speak to an amendment subsequently proposed; and
Part II Meetings of council
Division 4 Order and disorder
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 9
(c) reply to a question asked, or provide an explanation, relative
to the amendment.
(2) Subject to this by-law, a member at a meeting of the council, not
being a member who moves a motion, has a right to speak once to
the motion and to any amendment proposed to it.
(3) Subject to clause (4), a member at a meeting of the council may not
speak:
(a) more than once; or
(b) for more than 5 minutes,
on a motion or amendment to a motion before the meeting.
(4) Notwithstanding clause (3), where:
(a) the members present at a meeting of the council consent, a
member's time to speak on a question before the meeting may
be extended for a further period, of not more than 5 minutes,
as is determined by those members; or
(b) a member considers that he has been misrepresented or
misunderstood, the member may answer, without further
observation than is necessary, the misrepresentation or
misunderstanding.
24 Priority of speaking
Where 2 or more members at a meeting of the council signify their
intention to speak at the same time the mayor shall decide which
member shall be heard first.
25 Personal reflections on members or officers
A member speaking at a meeting of the council shall not make a
personal reflection on, or impute an improper motive to, another
member or an officer.
Division 4 Order and disorder
26 Question of order
(1) For the purposes of this by-law, a member is guilty of an act of
disorder if, at a meeting of the council, he:
(a) is in breach of the Act or these By-laws;
Part II Meetings of council
Division 4 Order and disorder
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 10
(b) uses language which, according to common usage, would be
considered disorderly;
(c) uses an expression or mode of behaviour that is inconsistent
with good order or decorum; or
(d) says or does anything calculated to bring the council into
contempt.
(2) The mayor at a meeting of the council may, with or without the
intervention of another member at the meeting, call a member at
the meeting to order where he considers the member is out of
order.
(3) A member at a meeting of the council may raise a question of order
with the mayor where he considers that another member at the
meeting is:
(a) guilty of an act of disorder; or
(b) out of order.
(4) Where, under clause (3), a question of order is raised, the mayor
shall rule on the question but may, before ruling, seek the opinions
of the other members at the meeting on the question.
(5) A ruling of the mayor made under clause (4) shall be obeyed except
where a motion of dissent is subsequently passed in respect of the
ruling
(6) A member who, under clause (4), is ruled to be out of order more
than once at a meeting of the council is guilty of an offence.
(7) Where the mayor, under clause (4), rules a member is guilty of an
act of disorder, he may request the member to leave the place
where the meeting of the council is taking place for the remainder of
the meeting and to apologize, without reservation, to the members
at the meeting.
27 Disorder
(1) The mayor may, where disorder arises at a meeting of the council,
adjourn the meeting for 15 minutes and quit the chair.
(2) Where, under clause (1), a meeting is adjourned, the mayor shall,
on resumption of the meeting, move a motion, which shall be put
without debate, to determine whether the meeting shall proceed.
(3) Where a motion under clause (2) is lost, the mayor shall declare the
meeting closed.
Part II Meetings of council
Division 5 Attendance and non-attendance
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 11
28 Motion, etc., to be rejected if out of order
A motion or an amendment to a motion, or a matter before a
meeting of the council, which is determined by the council to be out
of order shall be rejected.
28A Motion of dissent
(1) A member at a meeting of the council may, without notice, move a
motion of dissent in relation to a ruling by the mayor on a point of
order.
(2) Where, under clause (1), a motion is moved, further consideration
of the matter in relation to which the ruling of the mayor was made
shall be suspended until after the motion is put.
(3) Where a motion moved under clause (1) is carried, the matter in
relation to which the ruling of the mayor was made shall:
(a) proceed as if the ruling had not been made; or
(b) where, as a result of the ruling the matter was discharged as
out of order, be restored to the business paper and be dealt
with in the normal course of business.
Division 5 Attendance and non-attendance
29 Quorum not present
(1) Where a meeting of the council is postponed, that fact, together
with the names of the members present at that time, shall be
recorded in the minutes kept by the council.
(2) Where at a meeting of the council, a quorum of members is not
present, the mayor shall suspend the meeting for a period of
3 minutes and, if at the expiration of that period, a quorum of
members is not present, the names of the members present at that
time shall be recorded in the minutes kept by the council, and the
mayor shall adjourn the meeting to a later hour or to another day,
as he thinks fit.
(3) For the purposes of this by-law, a member is present at a meeting
of the council if he is in the room in which the meeting is taking, or
is to take, place and seated at the place allocated to him for the
meeting.
Part III Committees of council
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 12
Division 6 Media and public
30 Attendance of public and media at meetings
(1) At a meeting of the council an area at the place where the meeting
is to be held shall be made available for members of the public to
attend the meeting and as many members of the public as
reasonably can be accommodated in that area shall be permitted to
attend the meeting.
(2) At a meeting of the council reasonable facilities shall be made
available to media personnel for the purpose of reporting on the
meeting.
31 Removal of persons
(1) A person, other than a member, who interrupts the orderly conduct
of a meeting of the council shall, on being requested to do so by the
mayor, immediately leave the place where the meeting is being
held.
(2) A person who fails to comply with a request of the mayor under
clause (1) is guilty of an offence and may be removed, on the order
of the mayor, from the place where the meeting is taking place with
such force as is necessary.
32 Public participation at meeting
Except when invited to do so by the council, or in accordance with
by-law 10, a member of the public shall not take, or attempt to take
part, in the proceeding of a meeting of the council.
Part III Committees of council
33 Conduct of meetings
Subject to the Act, the procedures for the conduct of a meeting of a
committee shall, except as otherwise provided by these By-laws, be
as determined, from time to time, by the members of the committee.
34 Disorder in committee
By-laws 26 and 27 apply to and in relation to a meeting of a
committee as if the meeting was a meeting of the council and the
chairman of the committee was the mayor.
Part IV Miscellaneous
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 13
35 Reports by committees
(1) A report to the council by a committee shall be presented by the
chairman of the committee or, in his absence, by such other
member of the committee as determined by the mayor.
(2) Where distinct recommendations are made by a committee in a
report to the council the decision of the council in relation to each
recommendation may be taken separately.
35A Public participation at meeting of committee
A meeting of a committee is not open, and minutes of a meeting of
a committee are not available, to a member of the public except
where the committee, or the council, by resolution, so orders.
Part IV Miscellaneous
36 Dispensing with requirement of By-laws
The members at a meeting of the council may, by resolution passed
at that meeting, dispense with a requirement of these By-laws in or
in relation to the conduct of that meeting.
37 Mode of proceeding in cases not provided for
Where, at a meeting of the council or a committee, a matter arises
which is not provided for, in part or in whole, by these By-laws, the
matter shall be dealt with in accordance with the procedures in the
Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly, so far as those orders
are applicable.
38 Offences
A person shall not contravene or fail to comply with these By-laws.
Penalty: $500.
ENDNOTES
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws 1987 14
ENDNOTES
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws (SL No. 42, 1987)
Notified 4 November 1987
Commenced 4 November 1987
Amendments of Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws (SL No. 26,
1992)
Notified 1 July 1992
Commenced 1 July 1992
Amendment of Alice Springs (Council Meetings and Procedures) By-laws (SL No. 1,
1993)
Notified 3 February 1993
Commenced 3 February 1993
Statute Law Revision Act (No. 2) 2004 (Act No. 54, 2004)
Assent date 15 September 2004
Commenced 27 Oct 2004 (Gaz G43, 27 October 2004, p 3)
Local Government (Consequential Amendments) Act 2008 (Act No. 28, 2008)
Assent date 14 November 2008
Commenced 1 July 2008 (s 2)
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22 of 2018) to: bl 1.